Mirroring Irony
by Lumiere de Venise
Summary: Who would've thought that Kazui's schoollife would mirror Orihime's, but in a happier way? (Kinda sad. Angst. Ichigo and Karin and Yuzu are in this too.)


**[AN:] A sad Orihime fic. I'm too tired so I'll edit it up later. im uploading this so i dont miss a day on my fic a day challenge.**

**Prompt: Bullying, a bathroom stall, and anxiety. **

**Hope you guys enjoy this...**

* * *

"Answer the question. **Now.**"

A teacher glared mercilessly at a female student. His students were snickering at the scene. The tension in the air managed to be more enhanced than any laughter that came from the junior-high students.

"Um...I...I don't...really _know_..."

The teacher looked at her up and down before whacking his ruler at his deck. "Inoue, why is it that you seem to _not care about your future?!_"

Orihime looked at her profanity-covered desk in shame. It took all that was within her for her to not break into tears right then and there.

"I've gone over this _three times _already. You must minus 2 on both sides and then divide from those sums. It's nothing too hard.** Stay after school.**"

The short-haired ginger bit down on her lip. She gripped her skirt. She wanted to cry, wanted to defend herself, but she didn't have the courage.

Everyone was looking at her. Inoue heard the whispers of sweetly sinister tones behind her. She heard the impatient grunt of the teacher in front of her.

She wished that her teacher hadn't forced her to sit right at the front of the classroom.

Tatsuki, a new classmate who had started to stick up for Orihime, wasn't at school. There was no one to defend her.

She was a sheep that was about to be devoured by the wolves...

Hopefully, the teacher would let it go and just continue with the lesson.

_(She prays he does she prays he does she prays he does she prays he does she prays he does—)_

_Riiing! Riiiiiiing!_

Orihime let out a breath of relief. It was lunch time.

The gray-eyed female grabbed the bento that was under her desk, putting it on top of her desk. It covered the word "pig," one of the many things that was drawn on the wooden surface.

"_Well then, _Inoue," the unamused teacher began, "it looks like you were saved by the be—"

Inoue grabbed her lunch and ran out.

**.**

**.**

"That was kinda scary, but I feel...I feel more _safe_ around here," Orihime quietly said to herself as she wiped her sleeves. She finished the last of her rice, chicken, omelette and cantaloupe meal and got up from the seat.

"I have the odd need to go fix up my hair!"

Quietly, she closed the stall door and walked in front of the mirror. She pulled some of her hair behind her ear and, for a second, she reached down to the bottom of her chest for hair.

...

"Ah, t-t-that's right...It's...It's shorter, now," the ginger noted to herself as she gripped the long, rectangular sink table.

Drip. Drip.

Circular drops of aqua fell unto the part of her skin near her knuckles. A classmate of Orihime had walked into the third floor bathroom, the other female giving a half-surprised, half-disgusted look to the embarrassed girl.

_(Whyissheherewhyisshehere)_

"Can you move? You're in the way of the soap."

_(It'sthegirls'bathroomstupidOrihimeofcourseothergirlswouldwalkin)_

Orihime felt her heart race, so focused on the fact that she was caught with an empty bento in the bathroom that, ironically, she had forgotten to do what the other female asked her to do.

"Hello? Are you _deaf?_"

...

"Y-Yes, sorry, Yuki-chan," the formerly-long haired girl squeaked out as she quickly grabbed the bento, threw it away, and ran out. Orihime tried to ignore the glare that was no doubt focused on her as she bolted away.

_(Shemessedupshemessedupshemessedup)_

...

...

"Is anyone here?"

Surprisingly, the first floor's bathroom was (seemingly) empty. No one responded.

Perfect!

Orihime ran inside the stall farthest away from the entrance door and silently weeped. She didn't want to cry, but she messed **upupup**_ and now Yuki would tell the other girls and Orihime's gonna be seen as an even bigger crybaby idiot._

_'Nii-san, I need you...'_

**.**

**.**

**.**

**.**

"Hey, mom, dad, I'm home! I brought Makoto and Hitoshi!"

Orihime walked out of the kitchen with a big bowl of freshly-made cookies. Karin and Yuzu were right behind her, the former twin with three cookies in their mouth and the later twin with eight cookies in their hands.

Ichigo suddenly popped out too, two cookies in each hand and the father going to ruffle the hair of his fourteen year old son.

"That's wonderful! I made so many cookies, I thought I would only be able to feed them all to your aunties and you. Dig in!"

Makoto, who was happily locking arms with Kazui, smiled widely. "Hell yeah, some chocolate-chip pineapple and licorice cookies! Your mom is the best, Kazui! Man, why can't my mom be like you?"

Orihime chuckled sweetly as Kazui gave an embarrassed laugh.

"We've gone over this three times already, Makoto. Your mom doesn't make you cookies because you don't try to do your homework," Hitoshi responded with a deadpan tone before rolling his eyes. "It's **nothing** too—Mrs...Mrs Kurosaki? What's wrong?"

Makoto looked at said mother in confusion, and Ichigo and Kazui walked towards the female of their little family trio.

"Orihime? You good? What happened?" Ichigo asked his wife as he wiped her tears away. Kazui got tissues from the tissue box in the living room, while Yuzu and Karin bombarded her with questions for her well-being.

Orihime gave only one response:

"I...I was just thinking of the past..."

Before they could ask anything else, the mother grinned and passed as much cookies as she could to the other adults and the three middle-school students in the living room.

"Nothing important, though! Have more cookies!"

And so they did, and after a few more minutes of her reassuring them she was alright and finishing up all her cookies, everyone went back to their original tasks, specifically Kazui on him going to his room to play video games with his friends.

...

...

...

It was a hour since dinner—rice, chicken, omlettes, and cantaloupes—ended, and Ichigo had went out with Keigo and Mizuiro for a guys' night out. Karin went to the gym and Yuzu went to the mall, and the boys went straight back to Kazui's room.

Orihime was left in the kitchen, and as she was washing some dishes, she heard the happy screams of her son and his friends in his room, the mother chuckling at how she was able to distinctly hear Makoto boasting that he won the game over Hitoshi, and Kazui trying to play against Makoto next.

"Those boys are so rowdy! It's good to see Kazui with friends and a smile, though," Orihime said to herself as she put one dish away on the large cloth to her left, grabbed a dish in the sink, and began scrubbing said dish.

...

"H...Hu..._H-Huh?_"

She stopped washing the big white plate in her hand. Orihime felt aqua suddenly travel from her eyes to her knuckles, and it was at that moment that she mentally asked herself:

_'Why am I..._crying?_'_

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**There you go. 1k+ words of Orihime angst. Also thx for the condolences, guest. Eh, it doesn't bother me much now ironically lol. Until next time.)**


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